Ever since my first days as a journalist, I've been asking questions about travel. Not just to airline executives, but the rampers on the tarmac who actually know the answers; not just to general managers, but to the housekeepers who know all the secrets at every hotel. Not just to cruise ship captains, but the harbor pilots who see everything at sea level.

And after all those questions, I've learned something.

Some of what I've learned came from watching travelers make the same mistakes over and over again.

And yes, to be honest, some came from my own mistakes.

And some came from conversations I never forgot. It's all about the lessons I learned, and then applied, and now.. sharing those same lessons with you.

Over the years, I've developed my own top ten list of travel rules that I come back to again and again.